The Secret History Files
by Achariyth1
Summary: The Secret History Association has long tried to rid Gensokyo of all youkai. Their newest scheme involves Akyuu and the Gensokyo Chronicles. Now Lady Mokou Fujiwara must find the Child of Miare if she will ever see Keine again. Part of the Danmakuverse.
1. My Opening Farewell

**The Secret History Files**

A Touhou Project Fic in the Danmakuverse by Achariyth

* * *

**Chapter 1 - My Opening Farewell**

"Be forgotten!"

I ducked under a clumsily thrown haymaker and drove my fist into my attacker's gut.

"That was nothing, monster," he hissed between clenched teeth. He's right; I pulled the punch. Keine hates it when I hurt a human. She barely tolerates my feud with Kaguya as it is.

"I am human," I bellowed, snapping a kick at the wiry man's kneecap. He spun out of the way, and I caught his roundhouse kick on my arm.

"Only monsters live as long as you," Wiry bellowed, stepping in close and grabbing hold of my shirt. I hate it when goons place their hands there almost as much as when people complain about my immortality. But before I could gouge my fingernails into some place soft, he sent my flying into the air.

A tree rose up to meet me. Fire lashed out, reducing it to ash. I hit the ground and rolled. Flames licked all around me, until, at a word, they died away. Wobbling to my feet, I faced Wiry. "How many times do I have to tell you Secret History losers to leave me alone."

"You mistake me, Lady Fujiwara," he said, pelting me with stones. I held up my arms and gave silent thanks that if the bone-bruising hits got too painful, I could just die. Serial immortality did have a few benefits. "I am not here for your head-"

"Better youkai than you have tried." Danmaku and fire flew from my hands, sweeping away the stones in mid-air and filling the field where we fought.

Normally, whenever the air filled with magic, any sane mortal would, duck, dodge, and hide from the storm. Wiry stood there and held up a glowing card. As it vanished in his hand, so did my magic. The goon actually had the gall to bomb out of my danmaku. "I know. The Hidden One says that you served our purposes for three hundred years."

"I never worked for your kind." Spell cards were too good for him. I bounced high into the air, plummeting feet-first towards the secret society initiate. He side-stepped me as I landed, twisting his hands deep within my floor-length hair. I yelled as he jerked my head back. Kaguya had done worse, many a time before, but it still got my attention. Too bad these Secret History punks used some sort of disguise magic to obscure their features; I really wanted find Wiry alone in a dark alley. Flames crept along my body, seeking out his hand.

With his free hand, Wiry pulled out a soot-blackened knife. "You can't kill me for good," I said.

"I just have to delay you."

I screamed as he thrust the knife into my chest-

* * *

I sat up with a start, panting as though waking from a nightmare. My head jerked around, searching for when and where I had revived. Fortunately, I was in the middle of the field where Wiry killed me. At least I hadn't ended up in a youkai's cookpot.

Patting down my shirt, I breathed a sigh of relief that the blade had slide between the shirt's buttons. I didn't have many shirts left, as the linen didn't react well to fire. My bindings, however, were ruined. Pulling my arms in from the sleeves, I tore away the useless cloth. There'd be no more running for me until I got back to the house.

Those bastards in the Secret History Association and I went way back, to the days when my immortality was first known. In public, they were nothing but an inept group of monster hunters bent on freeing Gensokyo from the youkai menace. However, this wasn't the first time they had killed me, and I had seen their acolytes seal away crow tengu and other top-end youkai into strange books. Still others had been eliminated because the Association initiates had purged all memories of the youkai from existence. Unremembered youkai perished without humans to fear them. I think that's why Yukari created the Children of Miare. No youkai had vanished in such a manner since the Gensokyo Chronicles had been published. Or at least that I can remember.

She hid it well, but Keine hated them as well. She claimed that the Secret History Association was a threat to the existence of Gensokyo. They certainly changed history enough to keep her busy late into many a night just to clean up the mess.

I wiggled my arms back into the sleeves and pulled out a turtle-shell brush. Gathering my long hair over my shoulder, I began the long process of brushing the tangles out.

Look, I might be a princess, and many times a dowager at that, but I am not some pampered court darling who ritually counts each of a thousand strokes through her hair every night. My hair tangles easily in a fight, especially when some ham-fisted goon decides to rake his hands through it. It's better to deal with the painful problem now, before it gets worse.

And it also give my spirit, mind, and body time to finish reconnecting after I revive.

Maybe I should cut it, but my hair is longer than Kaguya's. In certain circles, that makes me the glamorous one, which rankles her and pleases me to no end. Next time, I'll just burn the punk that tries that stunt.

As the comb passed through my hair again and again, my thoughts filled with idle revenge. Eventually, even the most elaborate plans for roast acolyte began to bore me, so I replayed the fight in my mind. Somehow, I needed to keep my enemies from snaring me in my own hair.

_"I just have to delay you," Wiry had said._

I ground my teeth. Already, my skin burned, and in a moment, so would everything around me. The Secret History Association never really made a determined effort to eliminate me, but they did have many a long term plan. Personally, they were an annoyance, and I'd leave them alone, as long as they didn't mess with myself, Keine, her school, or Eternity Manor. Not that I'd need to bother. Eirin would tear apart anyone who was sill sane after meeting Reisen in her fury, and Keine consistently confounded the Association with her history tricks.

But the fools only had to get lucky once, and all of Gensokyo knew that Keine and I were closer than sisters...

I leapt to my feet and pocketed my comb. Pressing one arm tight against my chest, I sprinted home.

* * *

Some time during my run, I abandoned all attempts at modesty and comfort. Some lucky guy could have gotten a cheap thrill as I ran through the village, but all eyes were on Lord and Lady Hieda as they addressed the crowd. I didn't hear a word of what they said; I needed to see Keine.

I burst through the front door, shrieking her name. We shared a small house with no central heating, just long enough for a kitchen, a dining room, an office, and a single bedroom. (At night, another person's body heat matters more than privacy. Put those thoughts away, perverts.) I ran from room to room, but Keine wasn't there. No sign of struggle, no sign of her, not even her clothes. It was like I never had a roommate.

Throwing myself onto the bed, I wept. I couldn't even catch her scent on the sheets. My only friend was gone, and I was adrift once more, alone like I had been when I first drank the Hourai Elixir.

I don't know how long I had spent trembling in our, no, _my_ room, with my head buried in the crook of my arm while rivers rolled down my cheeks. All I know is that the room grew chilly before I finally wiped my eyes clean with my sleeve.

My stomach roiled; resurrection always left me hungry. If I didn't sate it soon, I could find myself dead once more. Sliding against the wall, I walked towards the kitchen. Throwing open the pantry, I piled noodles, jars of pickled vegetables, and dried meat onto the counter.

The stove lit with the snap of a finger. While I waited for water to boil, I sipped at a bottle of sake and drifted through the house and into the office

There, on the barren expanse that Keine insisted on calling my desk, a tented note stood alone. My eyes widened; Keine's calligraphy was distinct and elegant, just like what my father had tried to drill into me back when I was nothing more to him than a way to secure another alliance by marriage.

Setting the bottle down, I unfolded the letter. It took a moment to read past the tears.

_My Dearest Mokou,_

_I am sorry for worrying you. Please know that I am safe, hidden within history, and I will return safely to you. But before that can happen, I must make sure that the Child of Miare is safe. The Secret History Association has kidnapped her, and I cannot unravel their purpose. She is hidden by a history master almost as skilled as I am. _

_Please find Lady Akyuu; I have almost exhausted what I can do from where I am. I know that you aren't as passionate about Gensokyo's fate as I am, but I ask of you, please do this for me._

_Even though we are apart, I still remain,_

_Yours truly,_

_Keine Kamishirasawa_

_P.S. Don't go rushing out before eating. You can't do anyone any good huddled on the street in a stupor._

A weight lifted off of my shoulders. Draining the bottle, I smiled. The letter anchored me once more. I still longed to see my friend again, but while I waited for her, I'd fulfill her request. And if it meant slapping Wiry and his friends around, so much the better.

My stomach growled. Keine was right; I'd wait until after dinner to make myself available to Lord Hieda. And then the Secret History Association would learn that there were more harrowing things that haunted the night than youkai.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_Bohemian Article in Japanese Red_ mentions a Secret History Association bent on clearing away all youkai from Gensokyo. Seemed like a fun element to play with.


	2. Lie Awake

**The Secret History Files**

A Touhou Project Fic in the Danmakuverse by Achariyth

* * *

**Chapter 2: Lie Awake**

_And then the Secret History Association would learn that there were more harrowing things that haunted the night than youkai._

Remind me to never say anything like that again. Sure, it seemed so simple during dinner; find an initiate and slap Lady Akyuu's location out of him. It works so well for the Hakurei Shrinemaiden. But no one finds the Secret History Association unless they want you to.

It only took a couple hours running through the Village's back alleys for that to sink into my hard head. Normally, the wise would have stopped and considered carefully their next steps. Instead, I ran into Kotohime and her drunken oni brute squad searching for the raving madwoman stalking the streets.

They weren't that far wrong.

So now I've got a room for the night. It's spartan, but I only need a bed to sleep off that short oni's wicked right. At least Kotohime keeps the place clean, free from all the kicks I can't dodge and the inhospitality I've come to expect from dungeons over the ages. Now, if she'll only let me sleep.

I know some of you think I should be planning my escape, but it's hard to do that when she's staring right at me.

"You of all people should know better," 'Officer' Kotohime said, scribbling her way through a ream of paper. This little bunny princess wasn't an actual officer, but no one had the heart to contradict her delusions. Unlike the rest of the local police, the crazy woman got results, including arresting the Hakurei Shrinemaiden in her full fury.

"I got caught up in the moment," I said, leaning back against the bars and closing my eyes.

"You say that every time," Kotohime said, completing our little ritual. I'm no stranger to these walls, as most people took a dim view on my feud with Kaguya. However, I don't have my own cell named for me. That honor goes to some girl named Suika. "But you haven't been ranting about-"

"I'm trying to branch out." I didn't want to hear my rival's name. "Shouldn't you be out there looking for the Miare child?"

Minutes passed, and I opened my eyes. Kotohime still sat outside my cell, busying herself with the clipboard in her hands. "The chief doesn't want me on that case," she said. Her words started slow, but built up steam as spoke. " It's the biggest case we've ever had, bigger even than the Lindbergh baby, but someone has to babysit you."

"Let me go. I'm 1500 years old, I can take care of myself."

The clipboard clattered against the floor. "The law applies to everyone."

I sat up in my cot and stared at the lunatic princess. "In my experience, the strong do what they want, and the weak just suffer."

"Justice has to start somewhere. Right now, it starts with you," Kotohime said, an edge creeping into her voice. She scooped up her paperwork from the ground. "Do you have a statement to make, or will you wait for the judge?"

"Will it get me out of here faster?" I said. Hope welled up within me.

"You'll still have to see the judge," Kotohime said. A wry smile crossed her lips. "Judge Shiki is on duty tomorrow."

I sighed and flopped back into the bed. Judge Shiki loved haranguing me over my many misdeeds just as much as she loved to hear herself talk. It was my turn to clam up, but curiosity and a desire to see Keine again won out. "Any leads in the Miare case?"

"None that I can speak of." She finished her paperwork with a flurry and a jab of pen against paper.

"I'm not Aya," I said with a cold laugh.

"I never said you were. But I have nothing to say. All the reports sent back have been blank." She slumped against the chair and shook her head. "I know my co-workers are jokers, but to do this when a girl's life is on the line?"

I've seen Keine do something similar when excising a nastier bit of history. "I don't think it's a joke."

"So you know something?" Kotohime stood up straight, the pen in her hand poised against paper.

I took a deep breath. "You'll think I'm crazy..."

"Only if you tell me those Secret History nuts are behind it."

My heart fell. "Forget it." Craziness could be the most effective camouflage.

Kotohime badgered me for the next ten minutes. She's good, but I've had to keep secrets from Kaguya, and that perfect little princess has no qualms about driving her questions home with a point. Finally, after kicking her stool down the hall, she tore free pages from her clipboard and slid them into a special slot inside the door. "I'll let you sleep on it. But I will be talking to Judge Shiki in the morning. For your sake, I hope you're reasonable in the morning."

"Good cop, bad cop?" I said, rolling over in the cot.

"Perhaps. We're a little short handed right now, so would you mind punching yourself in the gut for me?" The sweetness of her tone couldn't hide the venom inside. Kotohime stomped up the steps to her office, leaving me to try to find the sleep goddess's embrace.

* * *

The night passed slowly while I tossed and turned. I wanted nothing more than to stalk the streets for the missing Miare girl. Well, not quite, I really wanted Keine back, but her letter linked her return and Lady Akyuu's safety.

Timber squealed at the touch of a boot. I opened my eyes . Remaining still, I searched the shadows. A match sizzled to life seconds before the gaslights bloomed. I clamped my eyes shut, wincing.

"Duchess Fujiwara," a man's voice said. He didn't bother whispering.

Wouldn't these idiots just let me sleep? Rolling away from this new annoyance, I snuggled tight against the wall.

"You're not fooling anyone. We've been watching you since Kotohime locked you up."

Now _that_ will make a girl's blood run cold. "Who the hell are you?" I said, bolting upright. The air filled with a hint of smoke as I wrapped the blanket around my body.

"Please, no powers," a figure said. No matter how much light filled the room, his features remained in shadow. My eyes watered just looking at him. "The mothers watched you. They won't allow anything... untoward to happen to one who looks as young as you."

I shook my head as I rubbed my eyes. Spare me the good intentions of the busybodies; I can take care of the mouthbreathers on my own. "It's been 1500 years since I had to be lead around on my nanny's apron strings. Tell me who you are, or leave me alone."

"I am known as Mister A." He pronounced the letter with a slight accent. "I'm sure your were-hakutaku friend has told you about me."

I nodded. Even if Keine hadn't, No Shame Aya had interviewed the public head of the Secret History Association months earlier. "Haven't your Secret History stooges done enough to me today?"

His laughter grated against my bones. "Do you really expect me to say that killing you was regrettable? It served its purpose, nothing more."

I leaped towards the bars of my cell, reaching for my unwanted visitor. "Where is the Miare child?" The bars glowed underneath my grip.

The shadowed master side-stepped my hand and pressed something against the metal. With a twist of his hand, the bars burned against my skin with a fierce cold. Yelping, I fell backwards, rubbing my hands together before plunging them beneath the blanket.

"She's safe, and she'll stay that way." His breath cast a vaporous shadow in the gas light. A metal case clicked open just long enough for Mister A. to slip something inside. "Please, keep your powers in check. I won't ask again."

"Or you'll do what? Kill me?" I said with a snort. Only the sheer force of my will kept my teeth from chattering.

"I've already Forged your cell so that the bars think they've spent years in winter snow," Mister A. said. "What else do you think I can change?"

"Steal that trick from Keine, did you?" Actually, I didn't know the full extent of her powers, just the rivalry between her and Mister A.'s Association.

"I wish she would stay out of matters that don't concern her." Regret tinged his voice.

"Including the Miare?" I said, blowing on my hands. The burning faded with the warmth.

It looked like he turned his back to me. I couldn't really tell through the shadows. "I don't understand your vehemence. The girl meant nothing to you until you received that letter from your friend."

"How long have you been watching me?"

"We wouldn't be much of a Secret History Association if we didn't keep track of events in Gensokyo. Your friend is misguided. _We_ aren't the ones who mean to harm Lady Akyuu."

The world went red. "If you slander Keine like that again, I will burn you where you stand."

He wheeled to face me, shaking his head ruefully. "There is another side besides hers and mine. We would like to use the Miare powers against them, for the safety of all. We'll give the girl back, unharmed, once this threat has been taken care of."

My vision cleared. "Until the next time you need her, and the time after that. And then, it'll be easier to keep her instead of giving her back to her parents." I'd seen it happen many times before to talented children.

"The Child of Miare creates certain opportunities. Remembrance can be such a fragile and resilient thing"

"Who's this third side?" Intrigue wasn't my strong suit, but my old man did teach me the basics. Well, whenever he wasn't bedding court debutantes and auctioning my hand in marriage off to the highest bidder.

He held up a hand and shook his head. "Names give it power. Just one that would use the Miare and the Chronicles to usher in the old days of blood, fire, and fear. Yes, we would use her if she is willing, but keeping her hidden is paramount. If it finds her-" A shudder ran down his spine. "Duchess Fujiwara, I ask that you abandon your search for Lady Akyuu."

"Has anyone asked her what she thinks?" I pulled the blanket tighter. The chill from the bars filled the air.

"You'd risk the world for one girl's wishes?" The shadow veiling him grew darker.

I'd wished someone had done the same for me, back before I found my freedom with the Hourai elixir. "Here's my counter-offer. Return Lady Akyuu back to her family. Let the shrinemaidens and the witch know about your beast so they can take care of it, and I won't spend the rest of Time hunting you and yours down."

"I doubt it will settle for defeat and tea, and I won't settle for its continued existence in Gensokyo. Too many have died before we could bring it to the brink of Oblivion," Mister A. said. I imagined him looking at me over tented fingers.

Insight dawned. They were going to erase a youkai from history. Considering how fragile most were, that the Secret History Association had thought it easier to destroy all traces of its existence instead of destroying the youkai itself spoke of its power. "So we're at an impasse, then."

"No, you're still in jail. Pity that we couldn't come to an agreement," he said, opening out the metal case once more. "You should be more careful with your alcohol." The leader of the Secret History Association pulled out Kotohime's papers from the door and pressed a stamp into the documents. "The Yama is especially harsh to those whose drunken actions harm children Oh, don't worry, the judge should release you in a year or so."

My blood ran cold. A year without Keine?

"Halt!" Kotohime's voice boomed from the walls.

Mister A.'s shadowy veil shimmered, as though all the darkness of a moment has to stretch over considerably more time. It reminded me of the eternal moments that Kaguya used to defeat my woodcraft. I swore as I grabbed at him through the bars. One moment, he was there, and the next, gone.

"Who was that?" Kotohime said as she stopped in front of my cell. She poked the air with a heavy truncheon.

"The Secret History Association," I said, sighing.

"So I'm not the only crazy one." She knelt, picking up the loose paper. As I said, Kotohime runs a clean jail. Her breath misted in front of her face. "Why is it cold in here?"

"My gentleman caller did something to the bars," I said, filling the words with as much sarcasm as I could manage. "Aren't you going to go after him?"

Kotohime tamped the papers against the floor. "I'm here to guard you."

"You're doing such a great job." The edge faded from my voice. "He has Lady Akyuu."

"I heard." She thumbed through the pages, her eyes growing darker with each page.

"If you won't go after him, let me. I have business with him. Maybe if I can find this third side-" I spoke quickly, buoyed along by my frustration.

"'The enemy of your enemy is your enemy's enemy. Nothing more, nothing less,'" Kotohime said, setting her stool upright. It sounded like something my father would say.

"Whatever. I need to find her."

"I can't let you go." She spoke woodenly, her features frozen.

"Our only lead is running away," I snapped, pointing to the jail walls.

"Don't you think I know that?" For the first time, the rabbit princess's poise cracked. "I can't leave you here for the Secret History Association or Kaguya to find you. I also can't release a repeat offender back out on the streets. That's a judge's call."

I flopped onto the cot. The metal supports groaned at the abuse. "So he's just going to get away?"

"No," Kotohime sighed, shaking her head. Wrapping her hands in her long sleeves, she said, "Get up."

"What are you doing?" I watched as she fumbled with the lock. Cold and cloth did not agree with her motions.

"I'm releasing you into my custody," she said, sliding the door open.

"You can do that?"

"We'll find out after this is over." Kotohime waved me over. "If you think about escaping, just know that Judge Shiki will throw an entire library's worth of books at you."

I dashed out of the cell, tossing the blanket aside. "I'll worry about that after a little girl's found."

She pressed a metal star into my hand. "I can deputize you. For the duration."

I pushed it away. "I have problems with authority."

"Suit yourself, partner. Let's go."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Kotohime quotes from the _Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries._


	3. Little Drop of Poison

**The Secret History Files**

A Touhou Project Fic in the Danmakuverse by Achariyth

* * *

**Chapter 3: Little Drop of Poison**

I hate disguises. Not because I despise sneaking around, but because my pale tresses and bows are the first things I have to hide. Do me a favor and don't say who a slender figure and floor-length raven princess-cut hair reminds you of. I don't need to hear it right now.

Add Kotohime's purple and pink robes, and not only do I look like that other princess of rabbits, I become the spitting image of those court ladies my worthless father couldn't keep his hands off of.

I need a drink. Good thing this bartender serves bourbon.

"Go easy on that," my 'cousin', Kotohime, said. "Most of the guys here are waiting for you to fall off your stool." Many in Gensokyo love the taste of Old No. 7, but few have the head for it. Sorry, boys, but a hundred years of drinking it builds up quite a tolerance. No one's going to be escorting Mokou Fujiwara, I mean, Koyomi Nakatomi, home tonight. You'd have better luck if Miyako was still alive...

I shook my head and drained my glass. I'd never been close to my older half-sister Miyako, preferring instead the company of my youngest half-sister Tahino. It seemed odd to dredge up ancient history here and now, especially of the elegant, disapproving empress who introduced Kaguya to my father.

"They're here," I whispered. The Secret History Association was consumed with beginnings, and Miyako's court intrigues were mine.

This wasn't my idea. As you might have guessed, Mr. A vanished before Kotohime could unlock my jail cell. I wanted to go full Hakurei out on the streets, but my minder wouldn't let me. Something about not being a menace to the peace. Anyway, I had to listen to Kotohime; else I'd languish back in that cell. Her plan meant I had to play her cousin Koyomi from the Outside as we "went to where the people were." She rattled off other homilies before we came here, but I tuned them out while I ran the dye through my hair.

For a madwoman, she's shockingly sensible. The Secret History Association would be watching for me. That is, for a tall girl with long pale hair and a hair-trigger temper. I just didn't expect her to drag me to the nearest bat in some deranged girls' night out. But if it meant finding Akyuu so that Keine could come back to me, I'd endure.

Somehow.

"Where?" Kotohime said. She nursed a drink that she called an "Arizona iced tea." Expecting something like a Long Island iced tea; I had taken a sip earlier and shivered. Who wanted to drink cold tea mixed with enough sugar to sate Kaguya's sweet tooth for a month, much less four of them in one night?

I closed my eyes. The sense of history long buried didn't act like a compass. Any of the clusters of men eying Kotohime and I while pondering divide and conquer strategies could be Secret History goons.

Try as I might, that familiar thread of nostalgia eluded me. Granted, I don't remember most of my half-sisters fondly. Infighting not once but twice to claim the privilege of the Emperor's bride ruined whatever memories I had of most of them. No one wants to remember what they once lost.

I missed the worst of it. Too young for the first squabble, I was too far gone in my rivalry with Kaguya Homewrecker to pay much attention at the second. At least not until Tahino burst into my room after Nagako and Komyoshi spread rumors of a tryst-

There it was, faint in the background and fading away. "Is anyone leaving?" I asked, trying to hold on to the image of my favorite half-sister in my mind's eye.

Kotohime tapped my shoulder. I opened my eyes and followed her pointing over to the exit. A raven-haired woman in dark robes stepped outside. I might have thought her a crow tengu, but she had her hair pulled back so that her human ears were showing. "Let's go, 'Koyomi," the policewoman said, sliding a thick stack of bills and coins across the counter.

* * *

We lost her immediately under the gaslights lining the midnight streets. It was like chasing kappa, except without the river youkai's penchant for shelling pursuers after they vanish. One of these days, I'll figure out how these Secret History acolytes elude me. I have some of Kaguya's classic entertainments in mind for when I catch one. Assuming I ever do. Until then, Kotohime has me going from group to group, chatting idly as I search for that lost nostalgia feeling of someone working with history. And I have to do it in character.

"It's for Keine," I repeated under my breath. Struggling to keep a smiling mask intact, I reached out, my hand brushing the arm of the Motoori's eldest son. As I searched the streets for hidden Secret History, there was no Mokou under these midnight tresses, only Kotohime's cousin. Koyomi was a notorious flirt, worse than the courtiers and courtesans that my mother and I caught sneaking into my father's house. My mother warned me against acting like them, now, if she saw me, I wasn't sure if she'd weep or cheer.

Merchant's son or not, my guess is that she'd schedule the wedding right then. The Motoori family had married for love, and found handsomeness as well, even if none of the booksellers' sons were a patch on my father. Although, if his shoulders were a touch broader, I'd be swooning under the moonlight instead of Koyomi.

I clung to that mask. I'd die over and over again if anyone saw me acting like this. The pride of the Fujiwara was too strong. Koyomi was unrestrained by such silliness, and no one saw past her spirited personality and low-cut robe to see the woman within.

Kotohime scowled, her hands wrenching her skirts as I wrapped more than an arm around the bookseller's son's. For a moment, I thought I saw Miyako's practiced sneer in the policewoman's features. She never liked to take the direct route in courtship. My mother had taught me better, in the days before the moon wretch ruined everything, but I hadn't kept up with the fashions of poetry and calligraphy. I snuggled tight against his side; I needed to distract him until I knew if he was Secret History.

If he was, I'd scream.

Maybe I'd scream anyway. I wanted to. But it's for Keine, so I'd endure. And maybe afterward...

I squeezed his arm tighter, cooing as I smiled, bright-eyed and every bit the pampered toy I loathe. Not Koyomi, this time, but me. He smiled back, his rigid reluctance melting away. I preened shamelessly, cooing and fluttering my eyes. No one told me how much fun this could be. Yet, he only saw Koyomi, and not me.

Now I really wanted to scream.

The breeze shifted, bringing cold air and the faintest hint of something familiar. It took me a moment to place it; while the Motoori boy smelled of hard work and old books, the wind brought the scent of moldering bones.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I didn't know what to say. Koyomi doesn't know Keine well enough to recognize the smell of history changing. And she definitely wouldn't know anything about the Secret History Association. Not that many know them as anything other than nutcases. My mind spun as I struggled to say anything other than the dreaded "It's not you, it's me."

I jumped as a hand seized my arm.

"Would you excuse my cousin?" Kotohime yanked me away and wrapped her free arm around my shoulders. "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about, but she has to wash her hair."

"What-" Her arm slipped off of my shoulders and cinched around my neck.

"Don't worry; I'm sure she'll be around for a very long time." As Kotohime dragged me away, I watched his face fall. "Auntie Kamohime can be so strict."

I froze, watching as the Motoori disappear as Kotohime pulled me around a corner. "How did you know Aunt Kamohime?"

"It's the first name to come to mind," Kotohime said. She let go of me, but kept her body between that corner and me.

Believe me, I wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. My personal history was leaking all over. Oh, I'm sure someone might have studied enough of the Fujiwara line to know my father's wives. They still wouldn't find me in the family tree; Miyako pruned me from it as soon as I drank the elixir. Also, no normal historian would have a clue that Aunt Kamohime always had Miyako's half-brothers and half-sisters call her that.

"Why'd you pull me away?" I snapped.

Kotohime laughed and pointed out into the street. People drifted away in small clumps and laughed with each other. "You drew a crowd."

I poked my head around the corner, even as heat flooded through my cheeks, and not the familiar phoenix burn. As the streets emptied, Komachi Onozuka stood firm and scowled at me. Embracing my inner Kaguya, I blew a raspberry at the tall reaper. I'd been thumbing my nose at death for so long, I couldn't resist.

"Stay here." Kotohime pulled me back and spun me further into the alley she had dragged us into. Then, the policewoman slipped out into the road, probably to harass a drunk. I waited about five heartbeats and ducked deeper into the alley. With luck, I could make it out the other side before she came back. I'd find Keine and Akyuu on my own, without the embarrassment.

Before I could make it half-way to my freedom, though, a piercing rhythmic clatter stopped me in my tracks. I knew that high pitch rattle, like the chattering of teeth on a cold winter's night. The bones. Youkai used to play the bones in their nightly revels, back in the days before doing so brought down a rain of fire. It's a simple instrument, just place two rib bones between your fingers and shake your hand to make a pleasant clicking rhythm. Youkai prefer human ribs, though, whenever they can get them.

This pair, swung around in spirals by a skilled hand, grated on more than just my ear. The timbre was human, that much was unmistakable, like the growing chill down my spine. I wrung the sides of my robe in my hands lest my fingers run down my sides, counting each rib by feel.

"Do you know the history of these?" The bones kept clattering while a woman's voice, my voice, spoke. I spun around and blood and warmth drained from my face. My reflection smiled and her hand spiraled in the air. No, not quite my reflection; I'd been that lean only once in my life, during the feral years. Her hair even matched my own now jet black tresses. I hadn't dyed my hair to match the wisteria flowers until after I had returned to civilization. "A silly noble child ran out into the forest one year and shivered out her days in a cave until something else found a better use for the body she wasted. A bloody end for one with so much blood on her hands."

My lips curled and the first flashes of heat danced across my skin. I bit back the flames; Kotohime forced me to leave the charms that protected my hair and clothes back at the jail. Where was that crazy policewoman? "Set those down and step back if you want to keep that hand."

"Really, Great Aunt, did you think a little charcoal in your hair would hide you from us?" My twin held my ribs up and rattled the bones. "These tell such interesting tales to those who have an ear to listen. You could have been Empress."

I ground my teeth and rolled up the sleeves of my borrowed robe. Already, the air filled with hint of smoldering ash. I'd proudly march home naked if it meant destroying those bones, but I doubted that Kotohime, wherever she was hiding, would let me. Besides, these robes would be expensive to replace. "You must be one of the mothers. Where's the Miare?"

My reflection waggled her hand in my direction, clicking her disapproval with my own bones. "You of all people should know the price of obsession. So many decades all alone." She smiled and ran her free hand down her side. "You don't know how many times you could have ended that with a simple smile."

Flame leapt from my open hand, searing the expensive cloth on my arm as it flew towards my Secret History shadow. She closed her eyes and the ribs in her hand glowed. The fireball vanished like a spark in a cold wind. For a moment, my earlier self vanished and another woman glowered at me, her face a mess of lines and gray locks. I stormed towards her, smoke rising from my arms.

"I have no time to waste on a mere girl unwilling to act her age," my reflection hissed. She held the ribs in both hands now, forming a sign. It glowed, and an unseen force seized me and squeezed my ribs like a vise. My lungs burned, but I couldn't gasp down a breath. "You were warned to leave the Child alone, for her safety. We would have let you be. But your obsessions now threaten the entire village. So, for the good of everyone, I have to break you."

I'd felt this before. Bone magic. Never this strong though, not even a thousand years earlier when some... thing made a collection of my parts. Since then, I burn anything left behind after my resurrections.

"Did you know that you look like your father's favorite courtesan?" With one hand, the mother held the bones in that cursed sign. She traced a slender finger down the side of a rib. "Eri, he called her. A blessed prize indeed. So pliable, like I must make you."

Miyako's best friend. Before Kaguya cursed us with her presence, all my hatred had been aimed at that simpering fool.

My reflection pulled out a steel flask from her sash. "You see, I found one more of your bones." She tapped the metal with her middle finger. "Open wide."

If I was able, burning lungs and all, I'd have thrashed my way loose or passed out trying. I'd seen my father break an obstinate horse once with a slurry of ground bone. He never raised a hand to the beast. One draught, and the bucking fiend lost its spirit. It never did much of anything after that, except when spurred. Good deal for the rider, horrible for the horse, and a nightmare for me. I'd be little more than a brood mare.

Forget the robes, I'll find a way to pay Kotohime back.

Before I could summon the phoenix flame, Kotohime lunged out of a deep shadow, quick and silent. She swung a thin metal baton at my reflection's wrist, and then whipped it around, striking the woman's shoulder and hip.

The bones clattered against the ground and I fell forward, sucking in huge breaths as I tumbled. The world spun as I rolled to my feet, panting. My eyes searched the dirt path, darting between stones.

The flask flew into the air and sprayed potion everywhere. Kotohime knelt on my twin, one knee pinning the woman's neck as the policewoman chased after flailing arms. Her captive blinked, appearing behind Kotohime in the same stance she had been in before the crazy rabbit princess tackled her. The flask reappeared in her hand. She stoppered the flask, kicked Kotohime over, and lurched for the rib bones at her feet.

My fire was faster. The air shimmered as dull red flame licked at my discarded remains. Kotohime bellowed and rolled towards the alley wall. The imposter hopped away, shook her hands, and blew on her fingers. I flung myself at her, but she blinked again, appearing behind me. But before I could spin around, she darted through the dying fire, fading into the air as she ran.

* * *

No matter how hard Kotohime might stamp her feet, it takes considerable time and effort to make bones burn. Keeping it from becoming a spectacle makes it take longer, even with a convenient crate hiding everything from wandering eyes. Thank the gods for the box; even with Kotohime over my shoulder, any onlooker who wandered in on me cremating human remains would run to call the real cops of Gensokyo.

By the way, Reimu and Marisa hate it when people have to wake them up at night.

Finally, the bones stopped crackling in the heat and only ash and dying embers remained. I rocked back on my heels and brushed ash and dust off of my robe.

Kotohime hauled me to my feet and wrenched my arms behind my back. I staggered as she spun me about and shoved me out into the main road and frogmarched me past the last lingering groups of people clumped under the gaslights. The streets emptied. No one wanted to stick around to see if this girl with the floor length hair was a troublemaker or a curfew breaker.

I dug in my feet as best I could, but to no avail. Look, I'm immortal, not immune to pain. Arms aren't designed to twist like that. "Let me go!"

Kotohime turned her wrist and jerked my hand past my shoulders. I rocked up onto my toes. "You need to cool your head, cousin. A night at the station should do the trick." Her voice boomed over my gasps.

"But Keine and Akyuu-"

"Come along quietly." Kotohime relaxed her grip and my nails no longer scratched the base of my neck. "I'd hate to make this professional. You wouldn't want me to think you're resisting arrest."

"Since when-" I bit my lip as stars exploded in my eyes. "I can still find them. They know who I am. I can be bait."

Kotohime dragged me off the road and into the alley known as Ballerina Leap Lane. She spun me around and shoved my back against a wall, pinning me in place with her knee. A hand clamped across my mouth. "I haven't forgotten about Lady Akyuu. We've tried it your way and it didn't work. Now we'll do things my way. You can be bait all you want, but you'll do it at the station."

She lifted her hand before I could snap at her fingers. "And if I say no?"

"You should have read the fine print before you agreed to be my deputy. Or do you want to go back to being my prisoner? Either way, we're heading back to the jail."

I slumped against the wall. "Did you have to march me past the Suzunaan bookstore?"

Kotohime flashed a set of wolfish teeth. "No."

I worked my free shoulder as best as I could pinned up against the wall. Maybe that would hide my grimace. "You done dragging me around yet? Or are we going out for another round of street theater?"

"Are you done ruining my robes?" Kotohime said. I looked away from the brown and black spots on her robes and nodded. Her knee moved and I dropped from the wall. "We're being followed."

The old familiar slow burn welled up once more. Even when I was young, I was gifted in tracking and centuries dodging youkai and crazy moon aliens had honed the skills beyond a knife's edge. There's no way I would have missed that, if Kotohime hadn't frogmarched me through the streets. "Let's do what we did last time. Go hide."

Kotohime shook her head and pulled one my sleeve. "That won't work again."

"I'll double back and-"

"Come one. It's too easy to trap us in here," she said, walking further down Ballerina Leap Lane. "Stick to the plan."

I lumbered after her as fast as I could in these robes, reminded once again why I had traded skirts for pants centuries earlier. "I would, if you'd bother to tell me the plan for once."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Thanks to Mephiles666, Wolfsbane706, and Captain Vulcan for prereading.


End file.
